life and the beginning of the lilly project

This past week, I experienced lots of beginnings. If you've been following my blogs or have seen me around campus so far this semester, you've probably noticed that I have been a little overwhelmed or scatterbrained. In the middle of this madness, I woke up one morning to find that I had kicked off a sticky note from the bulletin board beside my bed in my dorm room. On this sticky note, I found three guidelines I had taken in note from a service at Highland Park Baptist last year (that I attended with my friends Kristen Dunn and Elise Cofield!) Written were 1.) Rejoice in YOUR circumstances. 2.) Pray about everything...even the little things. 3.) Trust God's provisions.

These principles seem so simple..and maybe I had just overlooked them before, but over the past few days, I have begun to apply them to my life, and I can't even begin to describe the difference it has made.

In other news, this past week contained both the Honors Program Sadie Hawkins Dance and Homecoming (two events that I definitely enjoyed...here are just a few pictures of the highlights! :)..)

 

In case you don't know the people in the pictures: The top left is Jacob Wallace; he is one of my best friends in the Honors Program and was my date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance! The top right is Lesley Carter and Hailey Boeck; they are my Freshman Forum/ UPC/ Honors Program best friends. The middle left is my Zeta sister and Honors Program best friend Lauren Copeland right before the Homecoming Parade, and the middle right is a picture of new Zeta baby Alex Kelley, my Big Corinne Beckinger, and my Strawberry sister Sam Beckinger at the homecoming game! :) The bottom left is my roommate and best friend Elise Cofield, and the bottom right is new Zeta baby and "Look-a-Like" Sarah Beth Looney, and the picture right above this is my sweet sister, Dana Jacobs, who surprised me by driving over three hours to watch me in the homecoming parade and tailgate with me! I am one lucky girl!

 

 

This week also began my work for my Honors Platform with Lilly, the sweet girl at Kilby Lab School who I am mentoring/tutoring on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. Everyone had told me if I found what I should truly be doing for service, I would feel just as moved as the person I was helping; I would be lying to you if I said that I didn't discount that before I met Lilly. Imagine the cutest, sweetest, and most genuine five-year old you've ever met, and I promise that you would've just seen the face of Lilly Patterson. With my fingers crossed, I walked into her classroom Tuesday afternoon, hoping that she would warm up to me and allow me the opportunity to help her learn. Just a few minutes later, she had drawn me pages of animals, different types of foods, and had written my name as well as her own. Using Cinderella as the basis of many of my examples, I learned that all letters must be polka-dotted and the number 8's were just S's that kept going.

 

 

Over the last seven days, I've learned that there is a lot more to college...and to life than class or just making A's. I have so much to be thankful for, and I am INCREDIBLY blessed to be surrounded with the people that I am. Between my own family, the Honors Program, and Zeta Tau Alpha, I have the greatest support system I could ever imagine.